Device and methods for positioning the head of a reclining person

ABSTRACT

Devices and methods for supporting the head of a sleeping person during sleep so that the top of the head of the sleeping person is tilted upward are disclosed. These devices allow the users to sleep comfortably through the night even if the physical builds of the users differ substantially, and also allow the users to sleep on the side or on the back while keeping the head tilted upward from the horizontal position. The device is especially suited for users with benign paroxysmal position vertigo, and other conditions that can benefit from head-up sleep.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed device and methods are in the field relating to aidingpeople affected by motion-induced dizziness including benign paroxysmalpositional vertigo (BPPV) and related diseases with head-maneuveringexercises and rest comfortably in a reclining position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Elevating the head while a person is resting or sleeping through thenight has been recognized to provide potential wellness benefits to theresting or sleeping person. For example, in the art, it is known thatkeeping the head elevated during a dizziness episode for patientsdiagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) and relateddiseases caused by conditions in the inner ear may help alleviatedizziness symptoms, and doctors sometimes recommend that patients sleepon a stack of pillows for a night or two. However, the actual headposition that is beneficial to BPPV patients is not being elevated somuch as being tilted with the top of the head at a higher position thanthe lower portion of the head. Moreover some head maneuvering exercisesrepeatedly position the patient's head at certain angles from eitherhorizontal or vertical positions for a short duration of under a minuteat each position.

Pillows in the art are typically designed for a particular sleepingposition: on the side, on the stomach or on the back based on thedegrees of firmness of the pillow. A “well-designed” pillow is said to“cradle” the head so as to conform to the natural position of the userwhile lying on the bed rather than elevating and tilting the top of thehead upward. Stacking two or more pillows together may produce a headrest that may induce large strain to the neck, spine and hip regions andcause pain that may be extremely uncomfortable to the user. Even if theconfiguration of two or more stacked pillows can be made comfortable fora particular period of time, it would be difficult to maintain thatconfiguration during the usual six to eight hours of sleep time. Thereare also “wedge” pillows which allow the sleeper to be sleeping on hisor her back only so that the user cannot position the head in more thanone orientation. Moreover people of different physical builds such asbroad versus narrow shoulders, long versus short necks and so forth areforced to use the same-sized pillow designed for the general public suchthat they must go through different pillows with different firmness tofind the pillow or the combination of pillows that fit their physicalbuilds. It is the object of this application to describe a head restthat elevates and tilts the head position of the user during a regularnight sleep duration of six to ten hours, allows the user to sleep onthe back or the side, provides comfort for users for different physicalbuilds, allows the user to choose the optimized configuration and lockedin the inclination angle of the head-rest, and change the angle to adifferent one when desired. It is also an objective of the presentinvention to disclose a method to prevent and minimizing the symptoms ofmotion-induced dizziness in an affected person.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention discloses a device in the form of a head-rest that enablesa user to sleep on his or her side, and on his or her back withcomfortable support for the head, neck and shoulder regions, and withhis or her head elevated and inclined in a range of inclined angles fromabout 10 degrees to about 40 degrees with respect to the horizontal. Thedevice comprises of at least two layers which may be separate layers ortwo distinct portions of a contiguous structure. The layers are made ofa single material or a combination of materials usually used inconstructing sleep pillows in the art such as gel fibers, polyesterfibers, foams including polyurethane “memory” foam or cut-up foampieces, beads, buckwheat hulls and other natural materials such ascotton, wool, wood, water fowls' feathers and the like used in the artfor stuffing pillows. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, thetop layer which provides the sleep surface is made softer than thesecond layer which provides the support for the top layer. The secondlayer and the top layer are stacked in such a way that the top layeroverhangs and protrudes over the second layer by up to about two-thirdsof the width of the top layer, and the width of the overhang, i.e., theamount of the top layer protruding away from the edge of the supportlayer, is adjustable. The width of the overhang is adjustable by meansof fastening devices such as hook and loop devices under the trade nameof Velcro®, non-permanent adhesive-based devices, hook-and-eye devices,buckles and the like known in the art, or by interlocking means such asgrooves and mating ridges, poles and holes, and the like installed onthe mating surfaces of the top and second layers. As the head of thesleeping subject rests on the device, the top layer pivots on the edgeof the second layer and the overhanging part of the top layer tips downcreating an inclined sleeping surface. The adjustable inclined angle ofthe sleep surface with the fastening or interlocking devices due to theuser's placing his or her head more on the sleeping surface over thesupport layer or more on the overhang portion of the top layer ensuresthat the head of a subject of a particular build can be made to tilt atan inclined angle with respect to the horizontal with adequate supportfor the neck and shoulders for both the on-the-back or on-the-side sleeppositions for a prolonged period of time. When the subject sleeps on theback, the head slides down the inclined sleep surface until the neck iscomfortably supported by the leading edge of the overhang section, andyet the top of the head is still resting on the part of the top layerclosest to the edge of the support layer to prevent the head fromresting horizontally or close to horizontally with respect to thesurface of the bed.

If the user of the disclosed head-rest device suffers frommotion-induced dizziness such as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo(BPPV), the head-rest device allows the user to have his or her headinclined at an angle at various orientations during the natural tossingand turning over the head-rest device of over the six to ten hours ofsleep, which mimics to a degree some of the head maneuvering exercisesthat are designed to help relocate the loose otoliths (“ear rocks”) outof the semicircular canal or canals of the inner ear, and at the sametime, prevents the head from going to the horizontal position which isthe most vulnerable position for the otoliths to fall into thesemi-circular canal. Since the vertigo symptoms are due to the presenceof otoliths in the semi-circular canals, the minimization of thepotential of the otoliths falling into the semicircular canals by theuse of the disclosed head-rest may potentially help prevent dizzinesssymptoms of

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURES

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully fromthe following detailed description of preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, taken in conjunction with the following drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1: Schematic drawing of one embodiment of the disclosed head-restdevice comprising two discrete layers.

FIG. 2: Schematic drawing of the approximate configuration of thedisclosed device when the head of the user is resting on the devicewhile the user is lying on his or her back.

FIG. 3: Schematic drawing of the configuration of the disclosed devicewhen the head of the user is resting on the device while the user islying on his or her side.

FIG. 4: Schematic drawing of another embodiment of the disclosedhead-rest device comprising the top and the support layers being twodistinct portions of a single structure.

FIG. 5: Schematic drawing of another embodiment of the disclosedhead-rest device with a third component which possess regions of rolledup materials to make the regions firmer and higher than the rest of thecomponent.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The device being disclosed in this invention is a support for the head,neck and shoulders of the user so that the top portion of the head ofthe user is elevated and at an inclined angle with respect to a more orless horizontal flat surface on which the user lies. Referring to FIG. 1which shows one embodiment of the invention, which is the preferredembodiment of the device, the device 10 comprises at least two discretelayers, a top sleeping layer 100 with a first surface 110 and a secondsurface 120, and a bottom support layer 200 with a first surface 210 andthe second surface 220. The second surface 120 of the layer 100 liespartially on top of the first surface 210 of the bottom layer 200. Theportion of the layer 100 that juts out from the edge 230 of the layer200 forms an overhang 130, the width of which when measured from theedge 230 is from about 3 inches to about 15 inches. The total width ofthe layer 100 is from 14 inches to 25 inches, with the preferred widthto be about 20 inches. The length of the layer 100 is in the range of 12inches to about 40 inches. The layer 200 has a width that is also fromabout 14 inches to about 25 inches. The preferred width of the layer 200is about half of the width of the layer 100. The heights of the layers100 and 200 depend on the materials of which the layers 100 and 200 aremade. The layer 100 is made softer than the support layer 200 either byusing a softer material for the top layer 100 and a firmer material forthe second support layer 200, or by stuffing a casing with sufficientmaterial to make a firm structure for the layer 200, or a combination ofboth methods. The layer 100 and the layer 200 are shaped by casings madeof a textile fabric and stuffed with a material or a combination ofmaterials that are used in stuffing a pillow known in the art. Thesematerials include gel fibers, polymeric fibers such as polyester fibers,poly fiber clusters, structural foams including polyurethane “memory”foam of various degrees of firmness, cut-up foam pieces, buckwheathulls, other natural materials such as cotton, wool, wood, water fowls'feathers and the like. Therefore the layer 100 may be of the form of aconventional pillow made by filling a fabric casing with pillow-stuffingmaterial, or of foam sculptured into a one of the pillow forms known inthe art. The preferred materials for making the layer 100 are polymericfibers, water fowls' feathers, cut-up foams and buckwheat hulls andother non-structural organic or inorganic materials for stuffing acasing. The layer 200 may be made of sculptured foams without sharpedges formed by ˜90 degrees angles or unstructured materials listedabove stuffed in a casing. If unstructured materials stuffed in a casingis used for constructing the layer 200, then the layer 200 should bestuffed to the firmness of a firm or extra firm pillow known in the art.In one embodiment, the surface 210 of the layer 200 is slanted at anangle of about 5 to 10 degrees with respect to the surface 220, and thesurface 210 does not have sharp edges. Because of the inclined angle ofthe surface 210, the preferred height of the layer 200 is about 5 incheson one end of the width and about 4 inches on the other end. On thesecond surface 120 of the layer 100 and the first surface 210 of thelayer 200 are fastening means 150 such as hook and loop devicesexemplified by devices under the trademark of Velcro®, non-permanentadhesive strips, hook and eye, buckles, or interlocking structures suchas ridges and grooves that fix the position of the layer 100 over thelayer 200 so that the width of the overhang 130 can be varied and thenonce the desired position is achieved, the fastener or interlockingmeans 150 ensure that the relative position of the layer 100 and thelayer 200 is fixed. When the user of the device 10 places his or herhead on the sleeping surface 110 of the layer 100 with the overhangregion 130 under his or her neck and shoulder regions while lying on hisor her side on a flat surface, the weight of the head tips the device 10so that the sleeping surface 110 forms an incline angle 500 in the rangeof about 10 degrees to about 40 degrees with the flat surface of thebed, as exemplified in the illustration in FIG. 2. The magnitude of theinclined angle 500 depends on the width of the overhang 130. To achievethis range of inclined angles 500, the height and firmness of the layers100 and 200 are adjusted which can be carried out effectively by oneskilled in the art. The layer 200 should be firm or extra firm asrepresented by conventional description of the firmness of pillows inthe art. For example, to achieve firm or extra firm pillow packing inthe art, the weight of the gel fiber used to stuff a standard 20inches×26 inches standard-sized pillow is from about 20 ounces to over30 ounces. The overhang 130 supports the neck and the shoulder while thehead is mainly supported by the part of the sleeping surface 110directly over the layer 200 and behind the overhang 130. The leadingedge of the overhang 130 may be rolled toward the leading edge 230 ofthe support layer 200 by the user to gain more height for the head restand at the same time increases the incline angle. This configuration ofthe layers 100 and 200 may also be more comfortable for a user withbroader shoulders than average. When the user of the device 10 lies onhis or her back, the head of the user slides down the inclined sleepingsurface 110 until most of user's the head and the neck region rest onthe overhang region 130. Only the top portion of the head is supportedby the part of the surface 110 wrapping around the edge 230 of thesupport layer 200, or the distal end of the overhang over the edge 230.By having the lower part of the head resting on the leading edge ofoverhang region 130, the neck and shoulder regions are much closer tothe flat surface of the bed than when the user is lying on his side. Thestrain on the neck and shoulder regions, as well as on the back of theuser is substantially reduced. The incline angle of the head while theuser is sleeping on his back and resting the top of the head on thedistal end of the overhang 130 of the device may be as small as about 10degrees.

In another embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 4, the layer 100and the layer 200 are attached at a connection region 300 such thatlayer 100 can be folded over to lie one top of layer 200. The relativepositions of the layer 100 and the layer 200 are also fixed withfastener or interlocking means as in the previous embodiment. Theconnection region 300 may be made of a flexible piece of fabric or strapto link the layer 100 and the layer 200 together. As is also known inthe art, an additional thin narrow-width cushion strip or foam strip maybe used underneath the neck region or the lower back region to givesupplemental support while the user is lying on his or her side or hisor her back. Likewise additional conventional pillows may be used toprovide support on the user's back. In still another embodiment of thedevice, the additional support is a strip structure that can be rolledup in some parts so that the rolled-up parts provide a firmer and highersupport than the rest of the structure. Referring to FIG. 5, the stripstructure 400 is about 3 inches high and about 3 to 9 inches wide. Thelength of the structure 400 may be the same as those of the layer 100and 200, or longer. The width of the structure 400 may be rolled up inthe middle or along the whole length and the rolled-up shape 410 ismaintained with the help of non-permanent fastening device 450 such asVelcro™ strips. The structure 400 is made of the same kinds of materialsas that of the layers 100 and 200. The preferred material for making thestrip structure 400 is polyurethane foam with a low impression loaddeflection (ILD) of about 12. The rolled-up portion of the structure 400has an ILD larger than the ILD of the foam making up the structure thusenabling the strip structure 400 to have variable heights as well asvariable firmness along the length of the structure. The strip structure400 is not attached to the layer 100 or layer 200 and can be placedunder the overhang region 130 to add support for the neck and shoulderregion, or placed a portion of the spine for lumbar support.

It is also an objective of the present application to disclose a methodfor aiding the head maneuvering exercises aimed at alleviating thedizziness symptoms of persons suffering from benign positional dizzinesssuch as BPPV and related diseases. Since the user's head position isalways at an inclined angle in the range of 10 to 30 degrees withrespect to the horizontal dining the entire night of sleep whether theuser is sleeping on his or her side or on his or her back, the headmovements of the user during natural tossing and turning mimic to adegree the head-maneuvering exercises used by BPPV patients outside ofthe clinic to relieve dizziness symptoms. Some exercise includespositioning the head about 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal orvertical and keeping each position for about 20 seconds while a suffererof BPPV is reclining on a flat surface for a total of about 10 to 20minutes for each session and about 3 times each day. The user of thedisclosed head-rest device positions his or her head at an inclinedangle for six to eight hours each night with the head well-supportedduring the positioning.

The rationale behind positioning the head on the head support toalleviate dizziness symptoms at an inclined angle in the range of 10-35°is based on information derived from some published scientific resultsthat show that the horizontal position of the head might be the mostvulnerable for the otoliths to enter the semicircular canal. Thedisclosed process in the invention eliminates the potential that aperson diagnosed with BPPV and possesses BPPV symptoms may have his orher head in the horizontal position even during sleep.

Patients who suffer from motion-induced vertigo can attest to the highfrequency of episodic attacks occurring in the morning when they get upfrom the horizontal position. Since having the patient sleep in arecliner or hospital bed arrangement with the upper body and thereforehead position at an almost upright position every night is unacceptableto most patients for a variety of reasons, using the disclosed head-restdevice in the patient's bed every night or frequently delivers the samebenefits.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for use as a head-rest when a user isreclining on a horizontal surface Comprising: a first three-dimensionalpliant component made of one or more materials known in the art formaking sleep pillows; a second three-dimensional pliant component withat least one slanted surface made of materials known in the art formaking firm or extra firm sleep pillows; and a non-permanent fasteningmeans on at least one surface of the first and one surface of the secondcomponents so that the first and the second components can be placed ina user-selected configuration one on top of the other and the relativepositions of the first component to the second component is fixed by thenon-permanent fastening means.
 2. The device in claim 1, where the angleof the slanted surface of the second component is from about 5° to about10°.
 3. The device of claim 1, where the high point of the inclinedsurface of the second component is about 5 inches from the base surfaceof the second component and the low point of the inclined surface of thefirst component is about 4 inches from the base surface of the firstcomponent;
 4. The device of claim 1, where the width as measured fromthe high point of the inclined surface to the low point of the inclinedsurface of the second component is in the range of 6 to 20 inches. 5.The device in claim 1, where the second component is made of apolyurethane foam.
 6. The device in claim 1, where the first componentis in the shape of a conventional sleep pillow stuffed to 20-30 poundsfirmness with one or more of the pillow-stuffing materials of a discretenature such as polyester fiber, polyester fiber clusters, cut foam,cotton, wool, beads, grain hulls and the like.
 7. The device of claim 1,where the non-permanent fastening means is a hook and loop deviceexemplified by devices under the trade name of Velcro™.
 8. The device ofclaim 1, where the non-permanent fastening means are interlockingstructures built into the two interfacing surfaces of the first andsecond components.
 9. A device for use as a head-rest when a user isreclining on a horizontal surface Comprising: a first three-dimensionalpliant component made of one or more materials known in the art formaking sleep pillows; a second three-dimensional pliant component withat least one slanted surface made of materials known in the art formaking firm or extra firm sleep pillows; a non-permanent fastening meanson at least one surface of the first and one surface of the secondcomponents so that the first and the second components can be placed ina user-selected configuration one on top of the other and the relativepositions of the first component to the second component is fixed by thenon-permanent fastening means; and a third three-dimensional pliantcomponent of an elongated shape and made of materials known in the artfor making sleep pillows.
 10. The device in claim 8, where the angle ofthe slanted surface of the second component is from about 5° to about10°.
 11. The device of claim 8, where the high point of the inclinedsurface of the second component is about 5 inches from the base surfaceof the second component and the low point of the inclined surface of thefirst component is about 4 inches from the base surface of the firstcomponent;
 12. The device of claim 8, where the width as measured fromthe high point of the inclined surface to the low point of the inclinedsurface of the second component is in the range of 6 to 20 inches. 13.The device in claim 8, where the second component is made of apolyurethane foam.
 14. The device in claim 8, where the first componentis in the shape of a conventional sleep pillow stuffed to 20-30 poundsfirmness with one or more of the pillow-stuffing materials of a discretenature such as polyester fiber, polyester fiber clusters, cut foam,cotton, wool, beads, grain hulls and the like.
 15. The device of claim8, where the non-permanent fastening means is a hook and loop deviceexemplified by devices under the trade name of Velcro™.
 16. The deviceof claim 8, where the third three-dimensional pliant component has amore or less rectangular profile of about 3 inches in height and about 8inches in width.
 17. The device in claim 8, where the third pliantcomponent has non-permanent fastening means that allow the component tobe rolled into a quasi-circular profile.
 18. The device of claim 8,where the third pliant component has a more or less circular profile ofabout 3 to 4 inches in diameter.
 19. The device of claim 1, where thefirst and second pliant components are tethered by some flexible means.20. A process for alleviating the dizziness symptoms of a personsuffering from benign paroxysmal positional vertigo comprising the stepsof positioning the head of the person on a head-rest device comprising;a first three-dimensional pliant component made of one or more materialsknown in the art for making sleep pillows; a second three-dimensionalpliant component with at least one slanted surface made of materialsknown in the art for making firm or extra firm sleep pillows; and anon-permanent fastening means on at least one surface of the first andone surface of the second components so that the first and the secondcomponents can be placed in a user-selected configuration one on top ofthe other and the relative positions of the first component to thesecond component is fixed by the non-permanent fastening means adjusting the relative position of the first component and the secondcomponent until the head is rested in a comfortable position byreleasing the non-permanent fastener between the first component and thesecond component and re-fasten after moving the second componentrelative to the first component to the desired position;  visuallychecking that the top of the head of the person laying on the head-restdevice is tilted upwards with respect to the horizontal surface that theperson is reclining upon;  rotating the head of the person laying on thedevice to various angles and at various intervals typical of tossing andturning during sleep;  positioning a third optional strip structureunder the first component of the device or under the back of the personfor lumbar support; and  repeat the previous steps approximately every24 hours.